Creepers of the world: LEAVE ME ALONE!!!

What is it with creepy old guys? Why must they be so creepy? And why do they need to find me? First there was the Creepy Shoe Guy that kissed me on the cheek when I was shopping with Tara. Then there was the Creepy Subway Romeo who tried getting me to go eat with him even though we had maybe three sentences of shared language between us (what did he hope to accomplish on this date? Creeper...).

Well, now we can add Creepy Max Man to that list.

My graduate program is mostly made up of night classes. Yeah... it's annoying. I don't particularly enjoy having class from 4 to 9:30 at night, three days a week. Yuck! It's a good thing I like all my classes. My second and final class Monday nights is probably the best (the professor is HILARIOUS).

But, having classes at night has one particular draw back: taking the max (light rail) home at night. There's usually a fair amount of people out and about when I get out of class and onto the max. But it's still dark and, therefore, scary.

Last night, this Monday, I was standing waiting for the max at Pioneer Square when this old guy dressed like a 19 year old skate-boarder (honestly?) approached a woman who was eating out of a bag of chips. He tells her, "You know, you shouldn't eat carbs after 7."

Really? Do you know her? Is her eating chips at 9:30 any of your freaking business, man-child?

Apparently she felt the same way and laughed in his face. "F**k you! Does it LOOK like I f*****g care?!" And walked away. He was rather put out that she didn't immediately throw herself to her knees and worship his advice giving self. With all that, I was rather on edge, keeping an eye on him.

On edge as I was, I was NOT happy to see an old guy going around asking for money from everyone. UGH. Now, part of me feels bad and WANTS to give people money or food or something. But, you know what? My safety comes first and I prefer to have more control on situations where I am doing work for the homeless. Sorry if that doesn't seem perfectly Christlike, but I think it is needed in this world.

Anyways. So the guy is going around and I'm running through all the verbal self defense stuff that I've gone through with my sister's Taekwondo teacher and with my dad and I'm mildly freaking out inside but making sure my face is stony and my posture strong. BUTREALLYI'MFREAKINGOUT.

Finally he comes up to me and already he TOTALLY invades my little personal bubble with how close he is to me. He asks for money, I back up and tell him I don't carry any cash. Then he looks at me and says I look like I need a hug and he steps a little closer.

This is the point when beggar man became Creepy Max Man.

I put up my hands and say, "No," pretty dang clearly, making sure to keep eye contact though every instinct in me is wanting to look at the ground. But Creepy Max Man keeps talking and makes like he's going to move forward again so I hold my hands up more and say, loudly this time, "YOU NEED TO GO NOW."

Got a few stares and the look on the guy's face was pretty priceless. But he nodded, looked at the ground, and said, "Okay," before moving on to the couple a few feet away from me. I watched until he had talked to all the people and moved past Starbucks and then I pulled out my phone and texted my sister something like "HOLY CRAP!! I JUST TOTALLY USED VERBAL SELF DEFENSE AND I'M FREAKING OUT!!! DX"

My hands had stopped shaking by the time the max pulled up and I was done berating myself for shaking from such a minor encounter. I mean, Creepy Max Man probably wouldn't have done anything even if I HAD let him hug me. But I didn't know that. And I didn't know him. If you know me at all, you know I'm just a little big of a feminist (har har) and I could go on about the female public body etc but I won't. All you need to know is that you don't get to touch me if I don't want you to. END OF STORY.

Now, this story could have gone a bit differently if, say, this man had asked me for a hug:

Mmmm... Yes, Mr. Hemsworth. I DO need a hug.

 I mean... LOOK AT THOSE ARMS!!!

 Okay... one more.

I'm so OOOOOLLLDDD!!!!

Another birthday, another year closer to being OOOOLLLLDDD.

I do have to say that it's odd being 26, now, and having a mother who is "30." And, like my mom did before her "30th" birthday, I decided to do a list of things to do before my next big birthday, my "30 before I'm 30" list.

(it should be noted here that I hate balloons and all birthday wishes should be kept balloon free)
And here it is! 30 things that I want to do before I'm 30:

1. Graduate from the Portland State School Counseling graduate program
2. Sell a piece of my artwork
3. Go on a trip with my sister
4. Read the unabridged version of "Les Miserables"
5. Move out of my parents' house
6. Decorate a room the way that I really want to
7. Make something for my future home
8. Shoot a gun (that one actually scares me...)
9. Get a "real" job
10. Learn a new skill
11. Paint a piece of furniture
12. Have a theme party (perhaps "Nightmare Before Christmas"?)
13. Make and send holiday cards
14. Organize a recipe binder of things I can cook well
15. Take sister photos
16. Get a family portrait
17. Cosplay
18. Watch "Gone With the Wind" in one sitting
19. Practice my language skills (Spanish? Korean?)
20. Put fun color in my hair
21. Create a filing system for important documents
22. Take a fun class
23. Learn to sing Korean karaoke
24. Bake GOOD cookies (all by myself!!)
25. Write a letter to my future self
26. Go back to Korea (hopefully with a job there, but I'll settle for a vacation)
27. Tour Portland Shanghai Tunnels
28. Go to New York
29. Buy a car
30. Learn a new song on the piano

In several of my classes, we've talked about the importance of effort leading to success: teaching students that effort leads to success helps them take control of their life and see that success is not an innately born trait of the academically smart. Rather, success can often be the result of a choice to work hard, put in the time and effort needed to reach a goal. Part of this would be getting students to set their own goals and work towards them. This is something I also want to model for my students: continually setting goals and working towards attaining them.


Some of the things are life milestones (moving out), others more fun and silly (learning to sing Korean Karaoke), but all of the things on this list are things that I want to be able to accomplish before I turn 30 years old. Making and attaining goals is something I hope to continue to do throughout my entire life.

Wish me luck!!

Dentist and Politics (I'm SORRY!!)

I spent my election day this year at the dentist and work. If it hadn't been that Obama had won, it would have completely ruined my week (sorry Romney fans...).

I am turning 26 on Monday (OH MY GOD I'M SO OOOOLLLDD!!!) and so I have been getting various appointments out of the way, seeing as I will be dropped from my parents' insurance as of this momentous day. This meant two trips to the dentist: one to have them yell at me about not flossing, and a second to shoot me up with copious amounts of novicane to then drill at three tiny cavities that we "would ordinarily just watch, but due to your insurance ending, we'll just take care of it now."

Gee, thanks Dr. Thompson.

It was an oddly bittersweet day at the dentist (mostly bitter). I have been going to Dr. Thompson since I was 10 years old. He has been the only person to treat my adult teeths (and find a cavity in nearly every freaking one, I think). This was my last time in his office, probably. My next appointment will be with a complete stranger that I find through the school insurance. And, knowing my teeth, it's important that I go at least every six months. Ick.

Anyways, half my face was numb for the following six hours, during which I attended work and couldn't really smile or talk. It was annoying.

Tuesday night I decided that I wasn't going to watch any of the coverage of the election. Instead I watched tv on my computer... until I got a text from a girl at school informing me of that Obama had won.

My personal feelings are, "Meh. I'm happy that Romney didn't win." But I'm not throwing a huge Obama-fan party. I personally think he's a very charismatic man who makes great speeches, but I personally don't see the president as having all that much power when it comes down to it.

I also don't really understand Obama haters or Romney haters. I dislike Romney, but I don't HATE HIM... he just kind of creeps me out and we disagree philosophically speaking (seriously... "Binder Full of Women?" Poor word choice, dude) but I don't HATE HIM. If he had become president, I would have been a little bummed, but I wouldn't be throwing the hissy fit that some of my more condervative friends have been throwing on Facebook and other various areas (mostly Facebook....).

Here is what I say to those of you whining so much about the Obama win (particularly those of you who seriously seem to think that the world is going to end):

CHILL. THE HECK. OUT.

Obama being reelected is not the end of the world. People are whining about how people want hand outs and aren't working and waah waah waah. It's out current culture in this country (and, well, many of the developed countries in the world), not the president. And, honestly? The problems are a lot bigger than some people make them out to be (beware the Straw Men!!). It's not just people who don't want to work that get help from the government. Who are we to judge who is the "deserving poor" who deserves monetary help from the government? (This has been the most consistant thing people whine about, which is why I address it.)

And if you want to change something, if you have great ideas for how things should be done, rather than bitching about them on Facebook, DO SOMETHING. Write to your senator, governor, or something. RUN FOR FREAKING OFFICE IF YOU THINK YOU CAN DO BETTER. Get your voice heard in a productive forum.

My personal way of trying to make things better is to become a school counselor and try to help people from that post. Maybe I won't make a huge difference, probably nothing will change, but to those people who I help find resources to keep their family healthy and happy, I think I will at least be doing something right.

So, honestly, people. The world isn't coming to an end. You'll be fine. Just do the best you can do, and, in the end of the end, it will be enough.

Halloween Party!

Happy Halloween, everyone! I hope everyone is having an enjoyable and spooky holiday. I have work and school today so not much fun for me. Oh well! I was able to quickly catch a buy one get one sweater sale at H&M. Two cozy sweaters to keep me toasty this winter. Yay! ^^

This last weekend I had a Halloween party with some of my friends. It was a lot of fun. My mom helped me fix up my costume. I was a dead doll. Apparently all of the close up shots of my makeup turned out fuzzy. But it's way cooler than it looks here.

 

I put up a bunch of streamers and spiderwebs and bones and rats for decorations. Because I was also busy with school and work the week before, I decorated pretty early. There were a few times when some of my decorations (namely the rats) scared me a bit. Oops! 

 

 

There was lots of food: pizza, candy, chips, and homemade cupcakes and cookies (decorated by moi). Michelle also brought homemade carrot cake (which is not pictured here but was SUPER cute and uber tastey!).

 

James described my cookies as "droll" which I thought was adorable. I haven't heard that word in ages!

 

 

We played a couple of games, but the most fun, I think at least, was the classic "eat the donut off a string game! There were, of course, prize bags handed out to the winners. 

 

There  were some lots of great costumes show up: a cat, roadkill, Twilight vampire (she *SPARKLED*), a leprechaun, a Mexican, martial artist, mafia member, and Medusa (complete with scaley makeup and "snake" hair!).

 

An overall fabulous time was had and I'm glad I had a party. Jesi and I are wanting to have a Halloween/Christmas party next year. A  "Nightmare Before Christmas" themed party: Christmas/Halloween decorations, scary costumes, a white elephant gift exchange, and holiday foods from both holidays! I'm excited about that one. I hope it works out. I think that could be even MORE awesome. ^^

Well, I'm off to class soon, now. Happy Halloween!!

 

Keep on keepin' on

Things keep going. And I'm doing pretty good. Classes and school are keeping me busy, and it's only going to get busier. I got a look at the first draft of the November schedule for work and things are going to get pretty crazy busy.

And I say, "BRING IT ON!!!"

No, I mostly say, "Yaaay..." in a tired voice with a small smile.

Things have been especially crazy these past few weeks as, in between work, school, and homework, I've been getting ready to have a Halloween party! I am really excited for it. My mom helped me fix up a costume. We took an old dress from Goodwill, cut up the hem so my red crinoline skirt can peek out, added an awesome collar and a spider brooch, and then made some hair ties with extra lace. I'll add some awesome makeup and crazy hair and I'll be a dead doll. Pretty awesome. I'll post pictures after the party. :)

Dad helped me out this week as well. We had a self defense night for the women at church and he came and taught for us. It was a lot of fun. Everyone had a really great time. It's always fun to yell and hit stuff. And Dad is a really fun teacher. ^^

In other news.... I might be going to New York next summer (and maybe D.C. if my friend has her wedding around my New York trip)!! I have to take Multicultural Counseling next summer and there are two options. One, take the class as a ten week course in a classroom, normal normal style. Not as exciting but cheaper (not CHEAP: tuition is still expensive) Option TWO is to take a one week intensive course in New York where we go around to all the different neighborhoods and talk to leaders of the community. I've talked to several of the students who have gone and it sounds pretty freaking amazing. It is, however, expensive. In addition to tuition costs, I need to pay for hotel ($80 a night), airfare (anywhere from $700-$800 or so), a program fee ($380), plus food and transportation to and from the airport.

So I'm needing a bit of extra money. I've gotten about a quarter of the way there already, but if anyone wants to help, birthday and Christmas are both coming up and money is an easy and very much appreciated gift!

Here is a lovely video of a day spent in New York City. Isn't it lovely and fun? Wouldn't it be awesome to take a class there?

Maybe I'll sleep...

Well the past few weeks have been interesting to say the least. Life has been hectic since classes started. I'm loving my classes, by the way. They are all really interesting and I love how everything I am learning is applicable to what I'll be doing. We're not wasting any time with "broadening our horizons," but rather diving right into the good stuff. That makes me really happy because my time is precious.

Not to mention that this is costing A LOT of money.

First let me fill you in on what my schedule looks like until December:

Mondays I leave for the light rail around 2pm or so to head downtown. Human Development starts at 4 and goes until 6:30. We are learning about human cognitive, emotional, and physical development which comes in super handy in my next class. From 6:40 to 9:20 I have Theory Fundamentals where we are learning about the basic psychological theories. This week we discussed Freud and Psychoanalysis. Next week we will delve into the realms of Psychodynamics. It's all very interesting and I love seeing the theories put to use in the DVD's we watch of actual counseling sessions where the therapists use the theory we are discussing.

After class, I take the light rail back and get home around 10:30 or so.

Tuesdays I might have a day "off" to catch up on homework and chores or I might work if we have a session (usually only once a month).

Wednesdays I will usually work from  8:30 until 2 at the latest so I can take the light rail downtown again, this time for Parents, Schools, and Community Communication from 4 to 6:30. Here we learn about the various responsibilities of school counselors when it comes to community involvement. After that I have group therapy from 7 to 9. This is probably the high light of my week right now. It's actual group therapy with other members of my cohort (though I am the only School Counselor out of the bunch... it's mostly Clinical and Rehabilitation). It's a great experience.

Thursdays I usually have work in the morning and then I head downtown again for my last class of the week: Effective Teaching from 6:40 to 8:30. I'll have this class through June. It is essentially a class to complete a 200 hour student teaching experience. It shouldn't be too difficult. Hopefully it's mostly review, considering I got my BA in English Teaching!

Some Fridays I work, but mostly I have them off to do more homework, hopefully some dishes, and possible go out and have some fun (Mom and I went shopping yesterday).

I work every Saturday morning. I'll probably be Dina's lead for most Saturdays. Today was my first time being lead on a Saturday. I think it went fairly well, considering we were having a few crises in the back. I don't think the guests had a clue that we almost ran out of alfredo sauce! ^_^

Then Sundays I got church. This weekend is Conference which means church at home in bed in pajamas!

Tomorrow I also have to head downtown for a "Town-hall Meeting" for the school counselors where we will be matched up with a mentor as well as get other information about program things, I'm sure. It will also be a nice time to just hang out and talk with some of the fun people in the program.

Speaking of fun people in the program. I was talking with one of the other girls the other night, and we discovered that we attended the same high school. And were in the same graduating class. Small world, eh?

Also this week, Mom and I made a pretty promotional piece for work. Well, I designed it and cut things out. Mom's the one that stayed up late and glued, glittered, and ribboned everything into perfection. It looks beautiful! Exactly how I pictured it when I made the design. I stopped at St. Cupcake on Thursday and got Mom one of her favorite coconut cupcakes as a thank you gift (I'm eating mine right now).

The only other thing going on right now that I can think of is that I'm having a Halloween party! Yay! It will be awesome! I practice my makeup tonight for my dead doll costume and it looks AWESOME. Mom is helping me with my costume and it is going to look so cool! I am way stoked. I'd show you some pictures, but right now finishing up this post quick and spending some time watching TV before going to Wal Mart is looking more appealing than getting photos off my camera and onto here. Sorry. I'll have to show you another time. Possibly when my amazing costume is ready!!

I hope everyone out there is enjoying themselves. Jesi is off at BYU and Dad is in Vietnam so it's just Mom and me right now. And tomorrow we're making cookies! For my party! Yay! ^_^

Grad School Orientation

Tomorrow is my first day of graduate school. It's becoming real. I'm getting a little freaked. I blame orientation.

Thursday I spent all day on campus with the other people in my cohort (which consists of everyone going into rehabilitation, clinical mental health, marriage and family, and school counseling). The professors spent the day spending half the time congratulating us on getting into the program and the other half of the time telling us the next three years are going to be Hell. I exaggerate, of course, but it was still a lot of information in a short amount of time and a lot of us were a bit overwhelmed. I met some fun people who I hope to get to know well over the next three years.

I've spent the majority of my free time since then getting organized for next week. Picked up my room some, got some online things done for school, cleaned up my bookmarks so that they are a little more organized. All I need to do now is get my books, figure out how to put my school email on Thunderbird (it's being a big pain), and finish organizing my room.

Aside from school, I have work which is going as well as can be expected. We are trying to find some new people to hire on, but that is proving a little more difficult than the owner could hope. We have a new dishwasher who turned out to be from my parents' ward and was friends with my sister. Funny how things work out. 

So with school, work, and my limited social life, life is pretty good. Things are going to be insanely busy for the next three years. My first year is supposed to be the "easiest" and I plan on getting as much fun things as possible fit into that span of time. Hoping to have a Halloween party and we'll see how that works out.

Wish me luck!